Reputations

[The Barrow-Wight]

Remember that it is considered bad form to leave negative reputation without a comment.

[Son of Númenor]

I absolutely agree. I have only given negative reputation twice, and both times I have left an explanation and signed my screen name. I expect others to at least do the former for me, though I'll note that many have not.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I have only received one negative point and it came with a pretty offensive comment as well (and without a signature, of course ). This irked me somewhat, especially as the post which prompted this proverbial assault was really a nothing post in which I criticised the Departure of Denethor in the film.

I would argue that it is bad form to negative-ise someone without leaving a comment as well as your screenname. It's not a playground, we should be able to deal with differences easily here.

[Diamond18]

I may just be paranoid, but the thought occured to me that anyone can sign their name as anyone. It's a little disconcerting. I seriously doubt anyone with much rep points to give would do something so immature, but the identity thieving comment would still be there, wouldn't it? I am paranoid.

Edit: Oh, duh. Nevermind me. I got the bright idea to go back and read the guidelines on the first page of this thread, and apparently anyone who hasn't been around very long/has less than 50 posts/has a low reputation, should not be able to give reputation points or comments.

[HerenIstarion]

The problem is solvable - if the person allegedly giving you bad rep have rated you before, you may know how much points his/her rate is worth. Per instance, if Mr BW rates you positive, you've got 10 points. If another instance you get negative of 2 points and it is signed BW, you know it's fake. The worth of rating of each member may increase (say, another 1,000 posts or similar will bring 1 point to the rating power), but over considerable period of time, and gradually.

edit: in answer to 'edit' of the preceding post

Anybody can give comments and points. Just prior to reaching 51st post (or so I gather) the points equal zero. So, the reputed member gets nice/grudgy comment and neutral blue-gray box with 0 points (not no points, 0 points, if you follow my meaning, kind ladies and gentlemen)

That is not deduction - I talk out of experience - several times I've been rated by newbies and the total score did not change, but the comments were there.

Thanks to all who took time, btw

cheers

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Erm, Child of the 7th Age wrote this in my reputation:

Interesting ideas, Hookbill! ~Child of the 7th Age

However it was attached to a negative reputation point thing. What's going on?
:S

[The Only Real Estel]

The reputation idea is fine by me, though no doubt it has some flaws (what doesn't?). Having said that, I personally don't put a lot of stock in reputations, because anyone could be making a lot of really excellent post & not getting them rated like they deserve because the right people aren't seeing them. Some people chose not to rate often, & some chose not to rate at all. As long as you're making good posts that contribute to the forums, it makes no difference (to me) what your reputation is . As long as it's not negative (for a real reason) .

I may just be paranoid, but the thought occured to me that anyone can sign their name as anyone. It's a little disconcerting. I seriously doubt anyone with much rep points to give would do something so immature, but the identity thieving comment would still be there, wouldn't it? I am paranoid.

If anyone recieves a negative rating from 'me', PM me & find out if it was really me or not. I'm sure I wouldn't mind explaining it if it was me anyway...

[Hookbill the Goomba]

I received a *Blue* reputation point once. What's that all about?

[Mithalwen]

But I have other posts with one positive comment which are plain positive .... and the person who gave me them were lower in the rep ranking than the person who gave the somewhat positive rating

[Imladris]

Hookbill, blue ones are neutral. They are made by people with less than a fifty post count. They don't effect your score...

I'm sorry about the negative rep Aman..that's just mean.

[Amanaduial the archer]

And I'm sorry about that post being made - a case of, shall we say, 'mistaken identity'. There is another user who has my username and password and who I asked to come on to send a few PMs as to why I was AWOL (I anticipated not being able to get on for another week or so). I texted her before she actually sent anything on my account, but unfortunately it seems she didn't sign out - and thus that post was born.

Incidentally, I don't like answamachines...and I am liable to quoting films...but otherwise, that post is not true on my account.

My apologies for that

More levels in both directions? Hmm, I wonder how many more there are to go downwards...

How low can y'go...how low can y'go...

[The Barrow-Wight]

I've just sent out a few PMs reminding specific people that negative reputations should have a comment. If you've got nothing to say, don't click the button.

Also, for those of you who get negative reputations given, please don't write to me asking for an investigation. So far, everyone that has contacted me with a concern has each had a grand total of one (1) bad reputation with a point value of -1. This is nothing to panic about. The reputations system is a wonderful tool, and if you doubt me, just sort the Members List by Reputation and you will see how accurate it is.

Thanks

[Sharkû]

(Psst: if you find that an urgent reason to complain to the Wight, the bad reputation might have been quite accurate)

[Evisse the Blue]

It's very nice and refreshing that this a family-friendly forum but I think receiving an (anonymous, mind you) bad reputation because I used the word 'damn' (which you can see the board does not censor) is a little over the top. Especially since the term was not used as an insult but in a humorous manner (see post 86, page 3 of this thread). This is not to argue with the personal beliefs of the reputation giver - if he/she thinks I deserved a bad rep, so be it, they're exercising their board-given right. This is just to bring once again to the attention a problem that has been brought many times since the rep system was made, but never, to my knowledge has it been eradicated: that of NOT signing negative reps. No one hesitates to sign positive reps, but most negative reps are left anonymous. Hmm. A not so flattering appelative comes to mind, and one that is not a swear word.

Not that I mind bad reps. It's quite interesting to get them, because they became so rare. And a difference has to be made, or else we'd all be heading for the Straight Road sooner or later, and what would be the fun in that? I for one am happy to be at Aragorn's court for I am enjoying myself immensely and do not wish to leave.

[Mithalwen]

I think cowardly may be the word you are looking for.....

I finally cracked and gave a negative rep for a post I felt was quite malicious. But I signed it...

I suppose the only thing worse than not signing would be to sign with someone elses name... but perhaps I shouldn't give folk ideas...........

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

I'd actually wondered about that, Mith... If some mischief-maker with a bad sense of humor decided to neg-rep somebody and sign it The Barrow-Wight, or Esty, or... davem. The only way you could tell is if the points you receive don't correspond with the points they have to give.

What got me thinking along those lines was the Crystal Heart fiasco and how we don't really know who anybody is at any given time, but for pure trust in words. Is there any way for our beloved Higher Ups to moniter rep-giving? I don't remember if that has been mentioned before. I know that most of my reps come from the real deal Downers, because they have cute personal references and such, but how can you really tell?

-Conspiracy Theory Fea

[Mithalwen]

But does neg rep have the same weight as positive? I think I just lost one point each time but since it was anonymous there was no way of telling if that was their "weight" or normal.....

Unsurprisingly it was that unfortunate business that prompted my neg repping - not the incident itself but a response to it which was too full of schadenfreude...